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Obituaries

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Mary Lou Hershey Scioscia ’49

June 5, 2018, in Dobbs Ferry, New York.

Born in Toronto, Canada, Mary moved with her family to the United States in 1929. In 1946, she married Frank Scioscia, and they lived on the West Coast for 20 years before moving to Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.

A quiet woman with a bountiful outpouring of goodwill, Mary got her master’s in psychology from Columbia University and worked as an English teacher. She was especially gifted at igniting a love of reading in young adults who had previously struggled and not yet realized that reading was something to love.

Books and reading stories were integral to Mary’s life. She and Frank founded both the Dobbs Ferry Bookstore and the Riverrun Bookstore. A valued member of the Hastings Literature Club, she was on the board and served as president of the Friends of the Library. Her book Bicycle Rider, illustrated by Ed Young, is still enjoyed by young people and has been excerpted for literature textbooks. Mary also published several books of Indian folk tales, illustrated by her daughter-in-law Saradiya Dasi. She was involved in the Dobbs Ferry and Hastings Historical Societies.

She is survived by her four children, Louisa Stephens, John Scioscia, Charles Scioscia, and Virginia Vazirani.

Appeared in Reed magazine: December 2019